As disclosed in the above-identified commonly owned applications, such a coke-oven door advantageously comprises a metallic body or frame sealingly engaging the door jambs in its operating position, this frame carrying a heat-insulating layer over substantially its entire inner surface facing the coking chamber, and an upright heat-transmitting metal plate separated from the thermally insulated frame surface by a vertical gas channel, this plate being divided into a multiplicity of longitudinally adjoining and preferably overlapping sections. The channel is accessible from the interior of the associated coking chamber so that gases evolving from the coal charge may enter it and transmit part of their sensible heat through the metal plate to that charge which is therefore thermally cured not only through the heated longitudinal chamber walls, in accordance with conventional practice, but also at each end fitted with such a door. The plate sections are carried on the frame by support means in the form of spacers which are fixedly anchored to that frame at one end and are coupled at the other end with the plate sections in such a manner as to facilitate their relative thermal expansion. As particularly disclosed in application Ser. No. 332,317, such a coupling may be formed by a bolt projecting from the respective spacer through aligned openings in overlapping portions of two plate sections, one such opening being designed as a guide slot enabling relative longitudinal motion of these two sections. Aside from specially designed end brackets at the bottom and the top of the channel, the spacers may have the form of generally H-shaped stays also serving to hold the thermally insulating layer in position on the frame.
Even in the case of coking chambers with identical door openings it may be necessary to vary the separation of the metal plate from the door body from one instance to another. It may also be desirable, under some circumstances, to replace the sections of the heat-transmitting metal plate of an installed door by sections of different thickness.